Jose Santamaria passed away on Tuesday aged 96, having played over 330 times for Real Madrid, winning four European Cups with Los Blancos.
Santamaria grew up in the capital of Montevideo to Spanish parents who had immigrated in 1921, a fact which later became important in the centre-back’s career.
Although his most famous footballing spell to most was at Real Madrid, Santamaria first applied his trade at Nacional, a club which had housed the likes of World Cup winner Hector Scarone, who went on to manage them during Santamaria’s spell, as well as Hector Castro, who scored in the 1930 World Cup final despite only having a left forearm. Later, Nacional had Uruguayan heroes such as Diego Lugano, Diego Godin and, most notably, Luis Suarez.
At Nacional, Santamaria won four league championships, and made a name for himself as one of South America’s best defenders alongside the likes of Djalma and Nilton Santos. He was later chosen in FIFA’s All-Star Team for the 1954 World Cup. He would go on to play for almost a decade at Nacional, playing for them from 1948 to 1957. Then an opportunity came up in 1957 to join Real Madrid and play for the Spanish national team. In a time where international football was not heavily governing player nationality, Santamaria chose to join Real and play for Spain, leaving Uruguay behind.
In Spain, Santamaria became a player known to the globe, competing in one World Cup for Spain in 1962, as well as winning six La Liga titles with Real. It was on the continental stage where he and a cast of characters that included Ferenc Puskas, Didi, Amancio, Alfredo di Stefano, Raymond Kopa and Francisco ‘Paco’ Gento set Europe alight, reaching six European Cup finals, winning four of them.
At the end of the 1965-66 season, Santamaria retired from playing.
Later, he went into management, spending six seasons managing Espanyol, a time in which he transformed them from a mid-table side to title contenders, as they missed out on the 1972-73 La Liga title by just two points, pipped by Atletico Madrid. He was sacked in 1977 and still holds the record for most games managed at the Catalan side. After a poor run as Spain manager from 1980-1982, he retired from coaching.
After spending many years out of the spotlight, Santamaria passed away peacefully yesterday. Real Madrid Club President Florentino Perez made a statement on Santamaria’s passing.
“Santamaría will always be remembered as one of the great symbols of our club. He was part of a team that will remain in the memory of all madridistas and football fans worldwide.”
He added:
“Alongside Di Stéfano, Puskas, Gento, and Kopa, that team began building the myth of Real Madrid. Santamaría always exemplified the values of our club, and until his last moment, Real Madrid was the great passion of his life.”
